Crowds of people have been taking to the streets with phones in hand to chase after the latest coveted Pokémon character. But while the recent mobile app has taken the world by storm, climbers have for years been searching for hidden boxes in remote places using electronic devices.

While Pokémon players search for virtual characters, climbers and extreme sports enthusiasts have long been making their way to caves and cliff edges in search for the hidden geocaches – boxes hidden in remote locations and found using GPS on their smartphones.

Once located, users log in details about their activity.

In the few weeks since the launch of the Pokémon Go app, parallels have been drawn between the popular application and the geocaching one, since both games require users to step out into the real world in search of specific coordinates.

But for fans of app-based treasure, searching for caches, which have names, is regarded as requiring much more skill and could potentially be somewhat dangerous at times.

An avid climber who has located a number of the toughest geocaches hidden in Malta told this newspaper that there can be no comparison between the two games.

“One is completely virtual, you are constantly looking at your screen and swiping, while the other requires a certain level of skill and physical ability,” the climber said, adding that with geocaching, users also get to enjoy scenic views as they attempt to retrieve the hidden boxes.

One is completely virtual, you are constantly looking at your screen and swiping, while the other requires a certain level of skill and physical ability

A set of guidelines are in place to help users of the app locate the hidden boxes.

Users from anywhere in the world can hide one. They must make sure it is in the right place so other users can locate it.

In Malta alone, there are some 290 caches hidden all over the island, with the majority in the north. Of these, some 73 caches are to be found in the Mellieħa, Ċirkewwa and St Paul’s Bay areas. Other popular areas include Valletta, Mdina and Dingli.

While the difficulty of locating the caches varies, a number of the boxes located inside caves at cliffs in the north have a rating of five stars, indicating they are very difficult to trace – so anyone looking for them must be physically fit and well-aware of the terrain.

A number of geocaches hidden in Malta have a rating of four or higher, hidden deep within caves, some even requiring diving to retrieve.

“There’s the one hidden at It-Toqba, Mellieħa and another at Golden Bay that are very difficult to retrieve. It’s not a question of grabbing your phone and walking over to retrieve the hidden box,” the climber said. He added that users should also be wary of the ratings as these may sometimes be misleading.

“As it is users who put down the ratings and not the app’s creators, these could sometimes be inaccurate, especially if the climber or diver is an amateur.

“Users need to be careful, especially if they are inexperienced and not sure of what the terrain is like or how deep into a cave they need to be heading,” he added.

This could be especially tricky for foreign climbers who attempt to reach the more remote areas without being fully aware of the type of rocks they would have to climb to get to the spot, he said. Some boxes are also located at the edge of cliffs and so users must also be aware of the weather conditions when attempting to reach the locations.

Ten of the toughest caches to find in Malta:

• All the jokes: Difficulty: 4.5 – Location: Mellieħa.
• It-Toqba: Difficulty: 5 – Location: Mellieħa.
• Popeye’s Cache: Difficulty: 4 – Location: Mellieħa.
• Karraba: Difficulty: 5 – Location: Golden Bay.
• Miġra l-Ferħa: Difficulty: 5 – Location: Rabat.
• Għar Mirdum: Difficulty: 4.5 – Location: Dingli.
• Qolla: Difficulty: 4 – Location: Bidnija
• Bird’s Nest: Difficulty: 4 – Location: Buskett.
• Roman Baths: Difficulty: 4 – Location: Mistra.
• Crystal Lagoon: Difficulty: 4 – Location: Comino.